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The fact that Jaws used to scare me so much I couldn’t watch it is funny now that my film vocabulary and appreciation has grown to the point that I count the film as one of my favorite of all time. I can’t get through a 4th of July weekend without watching it.

If I were to teach a film class, and show examples of films that could be counted as “perfectly made” I know I would show Jaws & Annie Hall. Jaws may have had continuity issues once they got to looking through the footage, and the mechanical shark rarely worked, but Jaws is a lesson in suspense, good acting, story and the fact that less really is more.

As the sequels prove, in the hands of lesser directors, ones who aren’t afraid of showing us the big bad wolf or don’t concentrate on the emotions other than fear, a story about man v. shark is not all that appealing.

I’m glad Spielberg got the first go.

Brody: It doesn't make any sense when you pay a guy like you to watch sharks.
Hooper: Well, uh, it doesn't make much sense for a guy who hates the water to live on an island either.
Brody: It's only an island if you look at it from the water.
Hooper: That makes a lot of sense.

I run the risk of sounding like a giant dork when I say this, but Jurassic Park is one of my favorite Steven Spielberg films ever. I honestly think it’s the first movie that the theatre going experience stuck in my memory, and to this day I remember being scared of the dinosaurs even though I was fascinated; I remember the T-Rex being so loud as he ran after our protagonists that the floor was vibrating and that I tucked my feet under me in my seat because of this.

For anyone that hasn’t seen Jurassic Park you are missing out. It is Spielberg at his blockbuster best. The film is iconic proof that you can make a good adaptation of a great novel, maintain action and suspense without sacrificing character and story and even appeal to kids and adults alike. It has style, great direction and even moved the art of special effects forward.

Jurassic Park is the amusement park of the twentieth century and after an unfortunate accident creator John Hammond needs to get experts in the field to sign off on his park so he can convince his investors to move forward with funding. When archeologists Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler & chaotician Ian Malcolm arrive they are treated to the parks true wonder – Hammond and his scientists have found a way to clone dinosaurs and have them on display in his private island theme park. However, when the Grant, Sattler and Malcolm are sent on a tour of the park with Hammond’s lawyer and grandchildren something goes terribly wrong and the dinosaurs begin to overrun the park and turn the tables on the humans that recreated them.

This plot line is a perfect example of how to stay faithful to the source material yet make it work for film. If you have ever read the novel Jurassic Park is based on I think you will agree that the film is different in a lot of ways, yet somehow a faithful film. What Spielberg and crew managed to do was take all of the wonder, science and human interest from the book to the screen and keep the central dilemma – man vs. nature.

Part of what works so well about the film is that Spielberg made the film to be exactly what it should be – a monster movie. This is a story about science, nature and chaos, but more than anything this is a modern Frankenstein; man became too ambitious and tried to create life and now must deal with what happens when these creatures turn on them. The monsters are scary, but every character knows the events that are occurring are simply the nature of the beast.

I wish that the follow-ups to Jurassic Park were as good as the original, but sadly Spielberg’s first is the crown-jewel of the three film franchise. Even though he directed the second and some pretty cool elements are in there, nothing can hold a candle to the first foray into the world of Jurassic Park.

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writing: Michael Crichton & David Koepp
Dr. Alan Grant: Sam Neill
Dr. Ellie Sattler: Laura Dern
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Jeff Goldblum
John Hammond: Richard Attenborough
Robert Muldoon: Richard Peck
Gennaro: Martin Ferrero
Tim Murphy: Joseph Mazzello
Lex Murphy: Ariana Richards
Ray Arnold: Samuel L. Jackson
Dennis Nedry: Wayne Knight

John Hammond: Dr. Grant... if there's one person here who can appreciate what I'm trying to do.
Dr. Alan Grant: The world is changing so fast, and we're all running to catch up. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but look. Dinosaurs and man... two species separated by 65 million years of evolution, have suddenly been thrown into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea of what to expect?
John Hammond: I don't believe it! Hah! I don't believe it! You're supposed to come here and defend me against these characters and the only one I've got on my side is the bloodsucking lawyer!
Gennaro: Thank you.

In my mind there is not a movie more appropriate for the 4th of July than Jaws. As such I made sure to watch it over the Independence Day weekend.

The thing about Jaws is that I used to be downright terrified of this movie and refused to watch it for years after I first saw it. At one point in college I remember my brothers forcing me to watch it (each wedging me into my seat by cramming in next to me) and I don’t remember if I like it. Jaws preys on my irrational fear of bodies of water, and teeth/sharks – I know this movie should drive me insane with fear because that’s what it used to do. I really can’t remember when exactly I began to like this movie, much less when it became one of the movies I idolize.

Jaws is pretty much a perfect movie. It is not only engaging and fun but it is a text book example that if you have an involving plot, engaging, developed characters and make a conscious effort to put a good film together greatness can happen.

This movie was an inspiration to me while I made my own feature directorial debut. I have a quote by Ebert on my desk wall about Jaws where he raves that it is “a sensationally effective action picture, a scary thriller that works all the better because it’s populated with characters that have been developed into human beings.” This quote is amazingly true.

Above and beyond all of the thrills, jokes, scares and beauty inherent in Spielberg’s first feature the scene that captivates me and haunts me every time I watch the film is when Quint tells Brody and Hooper about being on the USS Indianapolis when it was sunk in WWII. No matter how many times I see that movie the scene captures my attention.

Jaws is one of the MANY reasons I am a diehard Spielberg junkie.

Hooper: I'm not going to waste my time arguing with a man who's lining up to be a hot lunch.